100 JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS' SOCIETY

THE PROPER SUBSPECIFIC NAME FOR SPEYERIA APHRODITE (NYMPHALIDAE) IN SOUTHWEST MANITOBA

JOHN H. MASTERS 5211 Southern Avenue, South Gate, California 90280

The most recent revision of the genus Speyeria (dos Passos & Grey, 1947) and the most recent checklist for Nearctic butterflies (dos Passos, 1964) have designated the southwest Manitoba population of Speyeria aphrodite (Fabricius) as subspecies mayae (Gunder). The name mayae, as proposed by Gunder, is unavailable and the name manitoba (Chermock & Chermock) must be used instead. Jean D. Gunder described mayae (1932) as Argynnis aphrodite cypris transitional form mayae from a pair of specimens collected by Marjorie May at Sand Ridge, Manitoba. Under the provisions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1961), this name is unavailable as a species group name because it was proposed as a quadrinomial and be­ cause the author's intent was to describe an aberrant form and not a subspecies. Gunder coined the term "transitional form" to be used to refer to those types of aberrations that he considered nameable. Gunder's holotype (Fig. 1, A & B) is a weird aberration of a sort that infrequently pops up in Speyeria. The Code provides, however, that although a name is unavailable when proposed, it can become available at a later date if elevated to a species group name. This was done when dos Passos & Grey (1947) elevated it to the subspecies rank. When a name is elevated in this manner it must take the date and the authorship of the elevation, in this case dos Passos & Grey 1947. In the meantime Chermock & Chermock (1940) described Speyeria aphrodite manitoba from the same locality: Sand Ridge, Manitoba. Their name has priority over mayae dos Passos & Grey. A typical looking male of Speyeria aphrodite manitoba is illustrated (Fig. 1, C & D). A very similar situation occurred with the southwest Manitoba prairie population of the Speyeria atlantis (Edwards) complex. Gunder (1927) described an aberrant as Argynnis lais tr. f. dennisi; this name being unavailable until being elevated by dos Passos & Grey (1947). Chermock & Chermock (1940) described Argynnis atlantis hollandi from nearby Riding Mountain, Manitoba. Their name, however, applies to the dark forest population of the Speyeria atlantis complex, and is not a subjective synonym of dennisi. It is my opinion that there are two species involved in what dos Passos and Grey call "Speyeria atlantis." The name dennisi is available then, but must be credited to dos Passos & Grey 1947. <: t 0 .. t-< q ~ t'1 1'0 .(7) Z q ~ tlj t'1 ~ 1'0 A c ..

t •

B D

Fig. 1. Specimens of Speyeria aphrodite: (A) holotype male, Argynnis aphrodite cypris tr. f. mayae Gunder, "Sand Ridge" Mani­ toba, near Bener Dam Lake, 10 Sept. 1931, collected by Marjorie May; (B) underside of same specimen; (C) typical male, Speyeria aphrodite manitoba (Chermock & Chermock), Beulah, Manitoba, 14 Aug. 1939, collected by Jack Dennis; (D) underside of same oI-' I-' specimen. Specimens are in the collection of the American Museum of ~atural History, New York City. All figures actual size. 102 JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS' SOCIETY

In a discussion of these butterflies described from "Sand Ridge, Manitoba" some mention should be made as to the whereabouts of Sand Ridge; a locality that is not to be found on any map. Sand Ridge was a favored collecting locality of Jack May, Vern Harper and L. P. Baker and has become the type locality for a dozen taxa in Lepidoptera. The actual site is a gravel ridge, which was formed as a beach on glacial Lake Agassiz, 8 miles east of McCreary, Manitoba. Bener Dam Lake, a rather small impoundment is here. This locality is just east of Riding Mountain and is in western Manitoba. In the past many persons have placed "Sand Ridge" in the vicinity of the town of Sandilands or the Sandilands Provincial Forest Reserve. These are both in southeastern Manitoba on the other side of the Red River Valley/Lake Winnipeg divide that separates many species of Lepidoptera into eastern and western sub­ species. It is very important then that anybody working with taxa de­ scribed from Sand Ridge understand exactly where it is.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT I am grateful to Dr. F. H. Rindge of the American Museum for allowing me to examine specimens of the former Gunder collection, now a part of the American Museum collection in New York City.

LITERATURE CITED CHERMOCK, F. H. & R. L. CHERMOCK. 1940. Some new diurnal Lepidoptera from the Riding Mountains and the Sand Ridge, Manitoba. Canad. Entomol. 72: 81-83. "CODE". 1961. International Code of Zoologioal Nomenclature adopted by the XV International Congress of Zoology. International Trust for Zoological Nomencla­ ture, London. 176 p. GUNDER, J. D. 1932. New Rhopalocera (Lepidoptera). Canad. Entomol. 64: 276-285. DOS PASSOS, C. F. 1964. A synonymic list of the Nearctic Rhopalocera. Mem. Lepid. Soc. 1. 145 p. --- & L. P. GREY. 1947. Systematic catalogue of Speyeria (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) with designations of types and fixations of. type localities. Amer. Mus. Novit. 1370. 30 p.